TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- As much as it has grown accustomed to playing the favorite throughout the Nick Saban era, Alabama will enter the 2012 SEC Championship in a relatively unfamiliar role.

For the first time since the inaugural game in 1992, No. 2 Alabama will carry the role of the favorite against No. 3 Georgia in the conference's annual title game. The Crimson Tide opened today as a 7.5-point favorite, according to various online gambling websites.

All-time, Alabama is 3-4 in the SEC Championship. All seven games were played against Florida.

The Crimson Tide hasn't been an underdog in any game since the 2009 SEC Championship, when Florida was a 4.5-point favorite. Alabama more than covered, as it downed the Gators, 32-13.

The Vegas-listed favorite has won 16 of the 20 SEC Championships. Alabama became the first underdog to win it in 1999, when it routed the 7-point favorite Gators, 34-7. Georgia won the game as an underdog in 2005, when it beat LSU, a 2-point favorite, 34-14.

Against the spread, the SEC Championship game favorite is 9-9-2. Alabama is 3-3-1 against the spread in conference title games.

The Crimson Tide covered the spread in six of its 12 games this season.

Here's a year-by-year breakdown of the final gambling line and end result of each SEC Championship game.